Kamala Harris’ racial identity has become a point of discussion for a while now, and the most recent one to get embroiled in this debate is singer Janet Jackson.
While talking about the upcoming election during her interview with The Guardian, the crooner was asked to share her views on the upcoming election, post which America may get the first black female president. Interrupting the reporter, the crooner went on to say that Harris is not ‘black.’ “Well, you know what they supposedly said?” Jackson asked. “She’s not Black, that’s what I heard, that she’s Indian.”
Although the Guardian journalist corrected her, still the singer went on to claim that Harris’ father was white.
“Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she said. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
Further, Jackson said that she wasn’t sure if the USA was ready for a woman of colour as president. “I don’t know,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem.”
“I think there might be mayhem,” Jackson added. “Either way it goes, but we’ll have to see.” Kamala is the daughter of two immigrants. Her father, Donald J. Harris, is Jamaican, who moved to the US to study economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is an Indian and came to the US to study at Berkeley. Claims about Harris’ race and ethnicity that have been made by Trump have been proven false by several media houses. Jackson’s comment has garnered backlash from the netizens, who slammed the rock star by calling her comment ‘’irrelevant’’ and ‘’nonsense.’’
Referring to her brother Michael Jackson, one user wrote, ‘’This is why she’s irrelevant and leeching off of her brothers’ success.’’
Another wrote, “Janet, you know better than to believe that nonsense… especially after all the race controversies Michael went through.’’ In July, presidential nominee Donald Trump made false claims about Harris’ racial identity during his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago. (Agencies)
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